letters in lower case

Jaydeep Sarangi’s letters in lower case is an endearing collection of beautifully written poems full of love and emotions. It is an offering of 79 poems that are thought provoking, lyrical and simple. The collection reflects on the simple joys of life, beauty of various experiences, role of memory and nostalgia.

The collection is divided into three parts: ‘Laws of the Land’, ‘Gesture of Surrender’ and ‘The Window you Hold’. Even though the poems are largely about personal feelings and musing, we find poems on nature, history, refugees, transit camps, Jose Mujica (former President of Uruguay), to name a few.

Sarangi’s poetic world is populated with memory, recollection, relationships and moments stolen from the daily grind. There are many gems in letters in lower case that everyone must read. ‘I shall be a River Someday’ (130) is insightful and profound. He desires to become a river.

Its water my sap I carry in my poems.

I write for my father

Seen him growing old with Dulung

His wrinkles are my memory froze

. . .

Where there’s a barricade of flowing water

between stories of two hearts

there’s a way through a

gate or door. There’s even

a ladder for the rise and fall

after each day’s end, counting

Some of the poems, such as “My room of thoughts” capture a mundane experience with such lucidity and precision that everything else fades away. Others provide comfort by finding moments of reflection and optimism within the darkness of monotonous existence.

“In Folders” is a mouth-watering description of Bengal in its quintessentially evocative cultural items.

Tongue leaks for Rohgulla and misti dahi, Chamcham

debating over Mohunbagan and East Bengal

watching a match at Eden gardens cheering for India,

Sunday lunch with Hilsa paturi, rasa malai at the end

evenings with Gaudiya nritya, dance of the mind,

mad for poems of Jibanananda Das

village folks crowd for Jatra and feast with

Sourav Ganguly, the Behala boy batting

Summer afternoons are watching

Tollywood films together and remembering

Jamini Roy and Satyajit Ray posing for a click.

References to bell hooks and Karna of The Mahabharata makes this collection a literary rich an interesting read.

Dreams are no longer dear to me

only thoughts of poetry, poets

are a window, hope of silver.

I read bell hooks to cheer up the spirit

contested with issues

codes to have a friend or not

I live in intersections. (Intersected Indian Mother 98)

One of my favourite poems from the collection is the titular ‘life in lower case’. (112) In lower cases of the alphabets resides no formality but comfort. He seeks comfort of the ordinary as he returns home daily:

i take off the shirt i liked so much

names written in only lower case

here i shall rest in peace (life in lower case, 112)

In ‘soul makers’ (116), Sarangi touches upon the “desires” and “fretful tomorrows” (116) that has the power to invoke the God in us.

bonds flow in my veins, arteries

keeping the sap moving, heart red.

the Buddha is in you, not out there

he never stops teaching, waking up.

Sarangi equates the challenging art of poetry writing to partial discipline of History in ‘Histories of the Land’:

History has its own book

Its mysterious pages record

Forgetting by the lines, by whims

Foul smell of selves, kings

You are right, epics are partial. Poems

Come out of blank hearts, mud water of Varanasi

Ignorance is no virtue, visitors are no rulers

Mothers of Manipur are my mothers, my native

My mother has one name, her sons are my brothers.

The imagery of rain, water, river runs throughout. In ‘House of Poetry’ (19) he says:

nearby river is the soul, forefathers

are still awake with desire for water, poems.

Similarly, in ‘An Etymology of Gain’ (26) he says:

No river is dead for ever,

monsoons make them full, pregnant.

I personally liked ‘Like a River’ (28) where his desire to merge is identity with rivers is highlighted:

I’ve known my land, rivers flowing

my soul carry the rivers I’ve seen

Amur to Indus, Sarasvati to Jordan

my heart speaks of rivers, like rivers.

I admired everything about this book: it’s cover, title and artistic unity. The book is well brought out with hardly any typographical errors. It is a deeply insightful and profound collection, that I would certainly recommend to all lovers of poetry.

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For copies: Jaydeep Sarangi, Authorspress, New Delhi, 2022. ISBN: 978-93-5529-154-7